Our Bird Club will have an exhibit at New Quarter Park's Cabin Fever event Saturday, March 24. The event goes all day with a variety of activities, including our regular 4th Saturday bird walk at 7 am led by Bill Williams. Other activities in the morning: kayak races; bike rides; disc golf and more. The exhibitors will be displaying from 12 pm - 3 pm.

Join us Wednesday, March 21 for Big Year Chronicles, a presentation by Mark Adams that will survey books about birding Big Years that have been published since Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher chronicled their 1953 field trip around North America in Wild America. Mark will highlight the classic Big Year books, and describe some lesser-known gems. Every Big Year book describes an ambitious bird watching adventure that was challenging, entertaining, educational, obsessive and occasionally dangerous. The Big Year territories covered by ambitious bird watchers include individual U.S. states, the American Birding Association Area, entire countries and continents, and even the world.

Mark will discuss the varied goals, strategies, and technologies for birding Big Years, including his own Texas Big Year. Mark is an astronomer who works for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he is the Assistant Director for Communications. Previously he was the Site Director for the University of Texas-McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. A bird watcher since 1995, Mark chronicled his Big Year in Chasing Birds across Texas: A Birding Big Year (Texas A&M University Press, 2003). He is a regional editor for North American Birds magazine. Mark will be bringing copies of his book for sale at special prices ($25 hardcover, $15 trade paper), and he will be happy to sign them.

Plan to join us on March 21 at 7:30 pm in Room 150, Millington Hall on the W&M campus. Geoff Giles will be providing the refreshments. Don't forget to use your parking permit.